Soundings

BOATYARD PHOENIX

he main building looks massive, seemingly stretching into infinity. Harry Boardsen, the owner of Bridgeport Boatworks at Steelpointe Harbor, meets me at the guardhouse gate and leads me inside, where I am blown away. We stroll past not one, but two enormous catamaran commuter fast-ferries lined up end to end, and then a full-sized tugboat that towers above us. The vessels are resting on blocks, waiting for service or repairs. Welders are welding, shipwrights are inspecting, and workers are prepping for blasting and bottom painting. It’s a beehive of activity. At the opposite end of the building, the door is tall and wide enough for the yard’s gargantuan 700-ton Travelift that’s designed to move boats even larger than those inside. The door opens onto a concrete pad the size of several football fields, where three more Travelifts

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